Two CD’s that have appeared in my mail box in the last week and deserve a thumbs up: “Les Chants de Maldoror,” read by Redjep Mitrovisa (Editions Theleme, 10, rue de Pontoise 75005 Paris) and “Live Capture Remix–June 10, 2005″ by Skip Fox, with electronic audio features by D. Perry and A. Verret (write to Skip at 1161 Highway 754, Sunset, LA. 70584).

Redjep’s reading of Chants I and II, interspersed with brief musical interludes, is accurate and intense. Redjep’s voice is that of an articulate youth’s–the voice has an unlined forehead, as it were–which drives home the fact that Les Chants de Maldoror is a young man’s book, written by someone who barely saw life before his atoms fell back to dust and silence.

Skip Fox’s voice, on the other hand, has the bite of a an older man who has gargled with acid after brushing his teeth with poison. The electronic augmentation fits perfectly–a swampy pool of sonorities through which the words fight their way to the ear and the heart. Skip writes that the group plans to issue a CD commercially. We hope it happens. Meanwhile, for those who might be interested, we supply the above address.